RAIN’s most-read articles of 2021. Some news items have import that goes beyond the moment — so it is that two of our top five were posted in 2020. On another note, hurrah to RAIN’s stellar lineup of guest columnists. Two of them landed in the 2021 top five. Continue Reading
The Podscape, a graphic representation of the podcast business landscape created by Magellan AI and Sounds Profitable, has been revised, again. The revision brings the detailed and useful infographic do date with podcast industry acquisitions made since the previous version. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note, smart speaker edition
— Waning? (Alexa)
— Meanwhile… (Google)
— Unifying the Brand (Nesting the Mini)
Video/audio podcast production platform Riverside has announced a video-clip-building feature. It’s a clever move for a podcast creation platform which is already distinguished by its fluency in video. Continue Reading
Jottings of Note
— Stability (Triton Digital)
— Who Bought Whom (Sounds Profitable)
— Not So Fast (Dave Hanley)
Venerable streaming music service AccuRadio sent around a notice that it has curated what the company describes as the world’s largest playlist of holiday songs. We won’t argue — this juggernaut of holiday cheer contains 17,000 tracks, and would require over five weeks of uninterrupted streaming to hear them all. Click through for details and links. Continue Reading
We don’t often receive news from Bulgaria, and today we learn that the country’s largest radio group, Fresh Media Bulgaria, has signed Triton Digital to leverage Triton’s streaming tech stack, services, and network. The imperatives are to increase ad revenue, build audience, and streamline day-to-day operations on the streaming side. Continue Reading
BBC Sounds, the listening app launched in June, 2018, released listening growth metrics for 2021. Overall listening was up 8% from last year, while podcast listening grew 25%. Altogether, 1.3-billion plays were initiated in the app. The organization’s announcement identifies three main content types. Continue Reading
Canadian listeners chose digital audio sources slightly more than radio in 2021, for the first time. This according to eMarketer. “The switch is related to a reduction in commuting,” the company notes, “which has had a direct impact on terrestrial radio consumption.” eMarketer is predicting a widening of the gap in 2022. Continue Reading
In an online presentation today, Edison Research released its Top Ten Findings of 2021, an interesting selection of key metrics from the company’s many consumer survey studies such as The Infinite Dial, Share of Ear, Podcast Consumer Tracker, and The Black Podcast Listener Report. Click through for details and infographics. Continue Reading
UK-based radio group and worldwide media company Global has acquired podcast hosting/tech outfit Captivate. Global is the developer and holding company of DAX, the company’s international digital audio advertising exchange. Captivate will become part of Global Player, and will take advantage of DAX’s immense reach for monetization opportunities. Continue Reading
In Magellan AI’s just-released ranking of podcast ad spending, we see the continuation of a sameness trend. Eight of the top 15 companies have ranked in the list for eight straight months. And in November there are no new brands that haven’t appeared once in the past eight months of RAIN comparisons. Click through for links and RAIN’s 8-month chart. Continue Reading